Keyhole lighting fixture



, Nov. '24, 1959 T; W-*KITH .I 2,914,656 n V KEYHOLE LIGHTING FIXTURE v Filed sept. 25, 1956' INVENTOR. TD W. ZE/rh' A TTOENEy5 United States Patent KEYHOLE LIGHTING FIXTURE Ted W. Keith, Hales Corners, Wis.

Application September 25, 1956, Serial No. 611,957

2 Claims. (Cl. 24U- 2.13)

This invention relates to improvements in keyhole lighting fixtures.

The keyhole lighting fixture of the present invention is recessed in the door jamb adjacent the keyhole for the door lock. The -substantially flush mounting of the keyhole light renders it inconspicuous and protects it from injury. In the device of the present invention however, and notwithstanding the recessed position of the fixture and the lamp contained therewithin, the lens closure for the fixture may be readily removed without disturbing the mounting of the fixture itself to give convenient and ready access to the lamp for replacement of burned-out bulbs.

The device of the present invention further incorporates novel means for ejecting the lamp and its socket on removal of the lens closure, thus further facilitating access to the bulb for replacement purposes.

The wiring connections to the lamp in the device of the present invention are made to the same circuit which supplies ringing current to the doorbell circuit. 'Ihe lamp is simply connected in shunt with the doorbell switch.

vOther features and advantages of the invention will be more apparent from an examination of the following disclosure in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a door and jamb, a door lock and keyhole mechanism being shown in operative association with a recessed keyhole lighting fixture embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary cross section taken through the door jamb and showing details of the assembled lighting iixture, the lighting circuit therefor being shown diagrammatically.

Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective View of the parts of the keyhole lighting fixture.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the projection of the lamp and lamp socket by the spring when the lens closure therefor is removed.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the bezel ring in which the lens closure is mounted.

Fig. l illustrates a door which has a conventional locking mechanism enclosed Within its doorknob 11. Knob 11 includes a keyhole 12. Door 10 has a normally closed position with respect to its jamb 13. According to the present invention jamb 13 is provided with a tubular recess 14 in which the tubular barrel 15 of my keyhole lighting fixture is seated. The tubular barrel 15 has a spring seat at 16 which is desirably formed simply by turning inwardly the end of the tubular barrel. At its end opposite spring seat 16 barrel 15 is provided with a mounting ange 17 provided with screw openings 18 through which the mounting screws 19 project to fasten the flange 17 to the face 2.0` of the jamb 13.

Against the spring seat 16 of the barrel 15 is positioned a. compression coil spring 23- within the coils of which the tubular portion 24 of a lamp socket 2S is received. Socket 25- has a-V springfshoulder- 26 Vagainst which the spring.23seats'tobias-thesocketsandits lamp 27 toward an ejected position as shown in= Fig. 4. The lamp and socket are normally retracted within the barrel 15 and against the pressure of spring 23 by lens closure 30 which may comprise a translucent defuser lens of glass or plastic marginally cemented or otherwise fixed in the bezel ring 31.

In the disclosed embodiment of the invention lens 30 has a rabbeted shoulder 32 which seats against the shoulder 33 formed by the inturned margin of the bezel ring fiange 34. Annular flange 34has suiiicient radial extent to cover the ange 17 of the barrel 15 in the position of the bezel ring 31 in which its tubular sleeve 35 resiliently engages the inner wall of barrel 15. Note vthat the bezel ring sleeve 35 has resiliently outwardly biased cutout prongs 36 which resiliently engage the wall of the barrel 15 to impositively retain the bezel ring in its Fig. 2 position. The bias of prongs 36 is sufficient to resist the pressure of spring 23 which urges the lamp 27 against the lens 30.

As clearly shown in Fig. 1, lens 30A is directed toward the keyhole slot 12 in the doorknob 11 to` provide clear illumination thereof.

By reason of theforegoing structure the lighting fixture is semipermanently mounted in the door jamb recess 14 by means of the screws 19. However, access to the interior of the fixture, to replace a burned-out lamp bulb, etc., may be had simply by removing the bezel ring 31 by prying beneath its flange 34 with a screw driver or knife blade or the like and drawing it to the right as shown in Fig. 2, thus removing it from telescopic engagement with the barrel 15. In the course of removal of the bezel ring and its lens 30, lamp Z7 and its socket 25 will be ejected by spring 23 substantially to the po sition of these parts shown in Fig. 4. The lamp and socket are thus made readily accessible for repair or replacement. The lamp and socket, of course, are retracted to their position shown in Fig. 2 when the bezel ring 31 is replaced.

Note from Fig. 2. that the bottom of the barrel 15 has an opening 41 of greater diameter than the tubular portion 24 of -socket 25. Accordingly, the tubular portion 24 may project rearwardly through the opening 41 in the fully retracted position of the socket.

Socket 25 is provided with electrical lead lines 37 which are simply shunted across` the terminals of the doorbell switch button 38. In Fig. 2 the doorbell 39 and its energizing transformer 40' are shown diagrammatically. The ohmic resistance of the lamp 27 is relatively high and permits only a trickle of electric current to pass through the coils of the Idoorbell 39 to energize the bulb 37. The iiow of current thus limited is inadequate to ring the doorbell. Accordingly lamp 27 burns continuously. However, its low wattage results in extremely low operating cost, even for year-round operation. Of course, when the doorbell button switch 38 is closed to ring the bell 39, the lamp 27 is short circuited and will be temporarily extinguished.

I claim:

1. A keyhole lighting fixture adapted to be received in a door jamb recess and comprising in combination a tubular barrel having a spring seat at one end thereof and a radial flange at the other end thereof whereby said barrel may be inserted in the jamb recess with the iiange abutting the jamb face, a spring receivable into said barrel and against said spring seat, a lamp and a.

lamp socket therefor, said lamp socket having a spring shoulder thereon and against which the spring exerts its bias, a bezel ring having a tubular portion releasably enclosed within the tubular barrel and having a radial flange which covers the flange of the barrel when the 5 bezel ring is inserted thereinto, and a lens closure for the barrel mounted on said bezel ring and against which said spring biases the lamp.

2. The device of ciaim 1 in which said tubular barrel has an open bottom through which a portion of the lamp 10 socket projects in the retracted position thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Miessner Sept. 24, 1929 Douglas Oct. 14, 1930 Bahr Apr. 13, 1937 Bahr Feb. 1, 1938 Doeppel Nov. 15, 1938 Kollsman May 28, 1940 Roper Dec. 2, 1941 Frees May 3, 1955 

